Crates, cages and other similar apparatus for housing and transporting pets are well-known in the art. These cages and crates are rigid, often comprised of steel bars or hard plastic and therefore, provide a sturdy housing. But they take up a large amount of storage space and are not easy to transport. Further, the rigid steel bars or hard plastic may injure the pet if it is thrown against the walls of the crate, for example, during a sudden stop in a vehicle. These rigid bars also may damage objects that they come in contact with such as the interior of an automobile or furniture.
To overcome these problems, the industry developed “soft” pet enclosures comprised of a “soft” material such as canvas or nylon with a rigid, collapsible frame generally having a rigid bottom panel. While these known “soft” pet enclosures are collapsible for storage, they generally have a footprint defined by the bottom portion that is often large and unwieldy.
There is a need for a durable soft pet crate that is easily collapsible, and capable of becoming more compact than the known soft crates.